Je t'aime
by ral327
Summary: Edward and Bella. AU/ All human.
1. Chapter 1

I squirmed as my mother made to hug me again. I didn't want her to see how hard I was actually taking this. I wanted her to be happy, even if it was going to make me miserable. The smile on my face probably wasn't the most convincing and my habit of looking around conspicuously while lying didn't help my predicament. She was still trying to get me to stay. I just smiled a little wider and make sure to look right at her forehead as she spoke. Hopefully, that would pass and she would stop begging me to "stop with this foolishness".

The last call for my flight from Phoenix to Forks sounded over the intercom and I kissed my mothers cheek one last time before clamoring onto the plane. I tried in vain to convince myself that this wasn't going to be the end of my world; it was simply a new beginning.

I could see the sun out of the tiny plane window and said a silent goodbye to it. I knew that it would be the last of it I saw for several months. Forks was the single rainiest town in the United States and here I was, voluntarily moving from my sunny haven to was sure to be my downfall.

I wasn't worried in the least about leaving friends behind in Arizona, just my eccentric mother and her eclectic taste for hobbies. She was always joining new clubs or taking up new pastimes. Sometimes they were perfectly innocent, like learning to play the piano or taking up yoga, and other times they're more destructive. Like skydiving. Or competitive bull riding. Whatever it was she thought she wanted to pursue, she found a class for it. More times than not, I would join her. Not because I found what she was doing particularly interesting, but so if I needed to, I could talk her out of it.

Her most recent decision was to marry Phil. Phil was nice and encouraging of my mothers' lifestyle and seemed to love her like no other. He played baseball trying to make it big, and was constantly on the move. My mother had to stay home with me considering I was still in school and had no friends to keep me company. I could tell she desperately missed Phil and thus decided to put her out of her misery.

I was able to convince her for the time being that I really just wanted to spend some time with my father, Charlie, and I would be fine for a year or two in Forks to finish off my high school career. Eventually, I had told the lie so many times that I was able to delude myself into thinking that this was want I wanted to do and stopped questioning whether or not I should actually go through with it.

Charlie was more than willing to have me come and stay with him, considering he had no other family up there with him and was thankful for the company he would be getting. He was one of the only reasons I was even remotely looking forward to moving there.

The other reason was simple and I had an easier time telling this to my mother. My one and only best friend lived in Forks, Alice Cullen. We met when we were born, basically, because our mothers were best friends. Every year I would spend days at a time at her house during the summer where we would gossip about our lives and this and that. I always missed Alice, it was like having a small part of me missing whenever we were apart. She was outgoing and vivacious and I was timid and awkward. We completed each other in a way. When I had called Alice about me moving to Forks for the rest of high school, I was pretty sure everyone across the state of Washington and within a 2-mile radius of me, who was on the phone, could hear the scream that burst forth from her.

I had been so immersed in my thoughts that I hadn't even realized that the plane was landing and it was time for me to transfer. This flight was to be about an hour long, until I reached Port Angeles, where it was an hour drive to where I would be living. As I settled into my seat on the small plane, my thoughts drifted back to Alice. And her brother. I'd known Edward as long as I'd known Alice. He was about a year and a half older than we were, but only in the next grade up. This year, he was a senior. And he was a _douche._ We've never gotten along, and frankly, we hated each other. It was no secret. We always bullied each other, but he had the upper hand. Always. He always said something that broke me, before I could break him. There wasn't ever an explanation for the way things turned out, they just did. Every summer we'd fight, and learn new ways to aggravate each other. Now that me living there was permanent, I was a little scared. But I figured I'd get over it. I'd always held my own against Edward. I could do it for a year before he went away for college. Piece of cake.

I snapped out of my reverie as the captain announced we were landing in 5 minutes. Soon, we were on the ground and I was grabbing my luggage. I spotted Charlie a ways off and waved to him as I made my way over. I hadn't even seen the thing bouncing up and down next to him in until it slammed right into me and nearly knocked me over if it hadn't been for the wall to my right. I smiled down at Alice and hugged her back with just as much force. Her grip loosened, and with that she started to talk. Nonstop. She bulldozed me with 101 questions about anything and everything. I was glad that I was spending the night at her house instead of at Charlie's, she and I had a lot of catching up to do.

I rushed over to Charlie and gave him a hug, not wanting to make him feel left out. We got my stuff into the car and headed for Forks. After the drive and shoving my suitcase into my room except for a change of clothes, we had dinner. Charlie had grabbed takeout and we were currently sitting at the round table in the middle of the kitchen, surrounded by the painted yellow cabinets. It was my mother's attempt at brightening up the place when she lived here. Needless to say, it didn't help very much because approximately a year later she ran away with me. When we finished eating, I said a quick goodbye to Charlie and headed off to the Cullens' house.

I was excited to stay there and to be able to see Alice and her parents. Esme and Carlisle were like a second set of parents to me and I loved them dearly. They always treated me like their second daughter. I greeted Esme with a hug and kiss on the cheek, and make some small talk. Carlisle made his way down from the study and welcomed me with a large, warm hug. Gosh, I love their family.

Alice and I made our way upstairs, her incessant talking filling my ears and rendering my thoughts temporarily disabled. She talked a lot. So, when I ran straight into the love of my life, I could hardly utter a word. But, I didn't know that yet.

He was gorgeous, but the face I had always been used to punching at grew up over the last 9 months. And now, he was breath-taking. But I would never admit it. I hated him. His bronze hair fell messily into his face, the red tints glowing in the light. His jaw was chiseled, with a small bit of stubble that was deliciously tempting. Can you say 5-o'clock shadow? Who knew that was sexy?

And now, he would be even worse. If that was possible. Beautiful, and torturous.

"Hey Bella," he said with a smirk. I scowled at him.


	2. Chapter 2

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE if you read chapter one before I did the revisions (basically the six people who reviewed. I know my story isn't read a lot) read it again! I CHANGED IT! BELLA AND EDWARD ARE DIFFERENT! You'll probably hate it if you haven't reread chapter 1. Please. Please. I worked hard on chapter 2 and I don't want it to be ruined if you haven't reread chapter 1. SO REREAD IT! Anyway, thanks if you read this. And the rest of the chapter. I basically had an epiphany and this came tumbling out.**

"Edward, if we're going to be in this ... compromising situation, then it's best we don't complain. You know how she gets. Let's just make the best of it. Let's play 20 questions."

"20 questions? That's the best you can come up with?"

"Do you always brood so much? It's unbecoming."

"God, you've gotten snippy over the years, haven't you?"

"Yes. And so have you. That's already 4 questions. See how great this is? Oh, that's 5."

"Fine," he pouted, finally agreeing to my game. We were stuck in the mall while Alice was shopping. _I _was trying to lighten things up, even though _I _was Alice's life-size Barbie Doll and _I _was the one being thrown into all the dressing rooms with ridiculous amounts of clothing being shoved onto my body. Right now we were waiting on Alice. All Edward had to do the whole time was sit there and watch. Maybe give his oh-so humble opinion on a few items. But here he was, sulking.

"Um..." I thought hard. What did I want to know about Edward? Or little Eddie as Emmett so fondly dubbed him.

"Who was your first?" I asked, hoping to get a rise out of him. But he was quick and tried to turn it around.

"My first what, Bella?" he turned to look at me from under his long eyelashes. He tried to appear innocent and naive about what I was asking. But I wouldn't have it. He embarrassed me plenty in high school and I'd grown wise to his antics.

"You're first hooker, little Ed. Oh, and how much did you spend? Lord knows you like expensive things. She must've been _class-y_!" I said the last word with an emphasis and sneered at him. I knew I'd hit him hard with that one. His claim to fame was that he was a gentleman, and me assuming he paid women for entertainment is something that he would consider a terrible insult.

He snorted and blushed the tiniest bit. He uncrossed his legs and rested his left ankle on his right knee. He uncrossed fingers and crossed them again. Fidgeting. He was wearing navy blue socks.

"Well, Isabella, I'm not going to dignify that question with an answer," he pursed his lips and smirked at his used of my full name. Which he knew I hated. "So now," he continued, "it's my turn to ask you a question. Who did you enjoy lying motionless under more: Mike or Tyler?"

I gasped. "You didn't!" I was appalled. Those had been terrible relationships I was in and I described in detail how particularly terrible the sex was to Alice and Rose. Meanwhile, the guys were eavesdropping to the whole conversation. When we found them, we made them never to mention the conversation again. It's something you share with your girlfriends, and hope the immature boy-men of your life don't ever find out about. I was shocked he stooped so low. He'd said he'd hated every minute of listening to it. He said he was totally grossed out. Both he and Jasper said it was "all Emmett's idea."

I glared at him. I fought the blush that was rising, and, luckily, won. As far as he was concerned, I wasn't totally mortified that he remembered that. Just angry that he broke his promise. But not too angry.

We hated each other. Everyone always thought that the six of us (Alice, Rose, Edward, Jasper, Emmett and I) would end up as cute, happy couples who've known each other from birth. That worked out for Alice and Jasper and Rose and Emmett. But something went wrong with Edward and I. Somewhere in between the hair pulling and the name calling, I decided we has the vilest, most irresponsible, and disgusting boy in the history of mankind. And I guess he decided the same about me. I guess I became the rudest, most bitchiest, only Swan child. And we stayed that way to each other over the years. We're forced to communicate and see each other because of our friends and families, but we could both definitely live without each other.

I shifted on the pink cushion with purple fringe I was sitting on and straightened out my blouse.

"_Anyway, _I'm not going to dignify that question with an answer," I replied primly, with a hint of mock-Edward.

"Very mature, Bella," he responded, trying to maintain his perfect visage. He, of course, was _so _much more refined than me, the clumsy, cursing Bella Swan. Edward practically oozed 1920s grandeur. From the way he held the door for women, to the way he waited for his dinner guests to start eating before he does. It sickened me. But maybe it was my hatred for him speaking. There wasn't any doubt about it. Edward truly was a gentleman, just not to me.

Luckily though, even if I had to deal with him more than I'd like, everyone gave up the hope of us ever getting along. Our mothers used to make us sit together at their dinners, hoping to start a budding romance. Now, we were allowed to sit wherever we wanted at the numerous dinner parties that were held. Alice though, hadn't given up hope yet. She had this gut feeling we were meant to to be together, and always stuck us together when she got the chance.

Now, it was my turn to ask Edward a question.

"Okay, Edward. It's my turn. Since we've gotten the unnecessarily rude remarks out of the way, I might as well ask you a real question. Hm. This is hard. What could I possible care enough to ask you about? Oh, sorry. I forgot for a second. No more rudeness. What're you working as again?" I hadn't meant to ask the mean question, it just came out. But he got over it and answered with just as much venom.

"I'm an architect. I design houses and buildings and whatnot. Remember, Bella?" He asked the question slowly, as if explaining to a child. I gave him a tight-lipped smile and responded, "That's right, you never did stop playing with those building blocks."

He rolled his eyes at me and pretended to think very hard, as if trying to remember something.

"What is it there to ask about plain old Bella Swan?"

"Ha ha," I responded sarcastically, "you're too funny, Edward. Too fucking funny."

"Anyway," he went on dramatically, "what are _you _doing for work now-a-days, Bella? Last I heard, Mike... let you go at the office."

I winced. That was harsh. Mike and I broke up two years ago, and he had been my employer. When we broke up, he fired me from my job which I'd had since I graduated. Anyone who asked felt uncomfortable so I started to tell people it just didn't work out there. Now, I had my own business. IT took me a long time to get off my feet and make some real profit from it, but with two part-time jobs and previous business classes, I opened The Swan, my bookshop/cafe. It was quaint, and I loved it. It was my baby, especially since I never wanted kids. My cat Pilou, my plants, and my little store were all that I needed in life.

"Well, Edward, I run my own business now. Where have you been? That thing with Mike was years ago."

"Not listening to the gossip, I guess," he replied, disinterested. He was examining his fingernails.

"Okay, guys! I'm all done here. Let's head home." Alice called to us. We both heaved heavy signs of relief. We hadn't even gotten through 10 questions, and we both wanted to smack one another.

"Whatever. It wasn't that bad." I rolled my eyes at Alice's attempt to defend herself and stood up. Edward rose to his feet as well, clearing my measly 5' 4" by 9 inches. He stood at 6' 1". His copper hair was always a complete mess. He was a gentleman, but he never deemed it necessary to to even try and fix that unruly mop.

His Pumas squeaked as he quickly made his way down the stairs and out the main entrance of the mall. Alice grimaced at her brothers hurry and tried to keep up. I simply walked at my own pace, knowing full well that I would fall if I tried to keep up his his brisk stride.

He can wait for me. Stupid Edward.


	3. Chapter 3

_7 years ago…_

_I glared at the teenage Adonis who was now a good 7 inches taller than me. "Hey, runt. I see you haven't grown at all. Big surprise there, right?" Edward questioned. I rolled my eyes and shoved him away from me. "I see you're still a paper sack full of douchebaggery and arrogance. Nice to you haven't changed either, Eddy," I replied with a sickly sweet voice and an innocent smile._

"_Okay guys, now that you've both taken care of verbally beating each other, can we go upstairs and catch up? Sorry Edward, but you can't come." Alice, always the mediator, broke up our little verbal joust and pushed me up the stairs._

_Once we were safely locked away in Alice's room, I exploded._

"_Ugh! He's such a jerk! It's not as if I can help how tall I am! I mean, I drank my milk and ate my vegetables! Maybe he's just jealous. I mean, it can't be comfortable, being that much taller than everyone around you. He must feel like a freak all the time. All the same, he deserves it! He has no right to act so…mean to everyone! Is he that mean to you, Alice?"_

_I turned to Alice and saw her watching me skeptically. "He's my brother, Bella. Of course he is. But usually you don't get so worked up over such a small comment. You can usually keep cool after a run-in with Ed. What's up?"_

"_I'm just, well, a little worried. I don't want to have to defend myself all the time when I'm here. I just want to go to school and forget that I left my entire life back in Phoenix. I just want to be happy here, that's all. And I don't think fighting with Edward will really help me with that."_

"_Well, what do you want to do? Talk to him? Avoid him? Seduce him?"_

_I stared at her in alarm. "Seduce him? What are you talking about? No way! What? I…What? Why would you even say that?! Ew! Now I'm having images! Ugh, oh my God. Ew! Oh man!"_

_Alice winced. "Sorry. But what I mean is that sexual tension is so much more enjoyable than angry tension," she said with a smirk. I raised an eyebrow at her._

"_How would you know, Alice? Is there something you need to tell me?"_

"_Well…" And so Alice began her story. I remembered Jasper as one of Edward's many friends, but no one that I could ever see Alice with. As it turned out, Alice and Jasper were perfect for each other. They had spent the majority of the summer together and most of the previous school year, also. Edward apparently wasn't bothered by it, and actually encouraged it. She was smitten, that much was obvious. She had a soft glow about her when she mentioned him, and lost it when she thought about the one time in their relationship when there had been an almost-grave misunderstanding. Everything had turned out in the end, and now they were happier than ever. I was happy for her._

_She also said that Emmet and Rose hung out at her house a lot. I vaguely remembered Rose from some of Alice's previous summer bashes. She was a stunning girl; smart, beautiful, kind, and genuine. If she didn't like someone, she made it known, but besides that, she had a heart of pure gold. _

_Emmett, on the other hand, was one of Edward's goofy friends. He was one of my favorite people in Forks. Of course, he did give me some crap about my inevitable clumsiness which Edward liked more than life itself, probably, but he was fun and never meant any real harm. Alice informed me of Emmett and Rose's relationship, as well._

"_So now Bella, just you and Edward have to get together! It would be perfect!" she said with a faraway look and a soft smile. _

_I simply snorted. "Yeah right, Alice. I'll let you dream about that day, but that's about it. I'll never, under any circumstances, ever date Edward. Sorry if that spoils any of your plans, but I will not allow it to happen. I'd much rather gouge out my own eyes with a spoon."_

"_Whatever, Bella. I'll get my way, and you know it."_

________________________________________________________________________X_

_3 years ago…_

"_Hey, Bella. Can I see you in my office, please?"_

_I glanced over my shoulder and gave Mike a cold look. "Sure thing, Mr. Newton," I said with a tight smile._

_I got up from my small desk with it's ancient computer creaking and beeping on top of it. I straightened my pencil skirt and uttered a quick prayer that this termination would be quick. It wasn't as if I didn't know what as coming._

_I focused on the sound of my Mary Janes clicking on the polished linoleum floor. I walked the approximately 50 feet to Mike's office, counting how many steps it took me. I lost count while I was thinking about what I would do when I didn't have this job anymore._

_I got to his door and glared at the name printed on the glass. 'Mike Newton: Editor in Chief.'_

_Editor in chief, indeed. What an asshole. He couldn't write worth shit. I knew that I hadn't really done anything, but he wanted to fire me because we were done with our relationship. Or rather, I dumped him and he's pissed. _

_I knocked and let myself in shortly there after. "You asked to see me, Mr. Newton?"_

"_Yes, Ms. Swan, please come in."_

"_What can I do for you, Mr. Newton?" _

"_Please, Bella. Do we really need to be so formal?_

"_If this meeting is about what I think it's about, then yes, formality is probably best. Because I can guess why you're going to fire me today. You'll pull some crap out of your ass about how coworker relationships are unacceptable and the company has to let me go to avoid such a thing. Am I right, Mr. Newton?"_

"…_Only in so many words, Bella. You knew this would come some day. You knew from the moment you became involved with me."_

"_I knew nothing of the sort! You said you cared about me, and you said that you wanted to be with me, but really, you want more than you can realistically have. You can't have a mistress, a girlfriend, and a hooker-"_

"_I didn't have a hooker!"_

"_It hardly matters, Mike. You had to have realized that I wouldn't be okay with you having a girl on the side. No woman would be. What did you think would happen if I found out? Did you think I'd be okay with it? What else did you expect? And now you're going to fire me from my job, which is my main source of income, because you feel like you need to protect your pride? I'm sick of it Mike. We're done. And I'm glad that you're going to 'let me go'. I hope I never have to see you again."_

"_God damn it, Bella! You're fired! Don't ever come back!"_

_He kept throwing threats and promises at my back as I walked out of his office, down the hallway approximately 50 feet, into my office, gathered my small amount of belongings, and even out the door and into my car. Everyone in the building was watching and listening silently, no doubt questioning the sanity of their boss._

_All I could think is, Thank God I'm out of that hell hole._

_____________________________________________________________________________X_

I was lying on my California King Size bed remembering those fateful days. It had been three years since then. Now, I was living in Seattle, settled with a comfortable self-owned business. I was a year out of college, three years out of my ridiculous relationship with Mike, and quite happy with my life.

My quaint little bookstore was my pride and joy. I had majored in entrepreneurship and minored in literature during college. I opened up my bookstore during my third year of college, working as a waitress in a small diner whenever I could and saving all of my extra money to put into my lease. It was small, but the walls were stacked to the ceiling full of bookcases.

It took me what felt like forever to get all of the bookshelves filled. I would go to other stores at first, and ask if they had any they wanted to get rid of, and buy them for a small bit of money. Then, I started getting more and more money, finally ending college and getting a steadier job. I registered for small shipments of newer and better books, rather than the old used ones donated from other shops.

Eventually, I earned some loyal customers, who came back if they ever needed any kind of book. I still worked on the side some, because business was slow, but for the most part I was holed up in bookstore, getting it up and running.

Although I loved my shop like no other, sometimes it didn't rack up enough profit for me to pay all the bills. So, I took some jobs on the side. I dabbled in everything, seeing as there are a million things to do in Seattle, and I enjoy it. I meet new people all the time and get to experience many different things.

It was seven years from the year when I moved to Forks, and fortunately, I still saw my best friends on a weekly basis. Me, Alice, and Rose all meet Sunday afternoons for lunch, at the same place at the same time every week. Sometimes, we decide to do things on other days of the week too, but we _always _meet on Sundays.

Alice wrote as the advice columnist. "Ask Alice" had been a huge hit since she was hired there, and now it seemed everyone had a problem they needed to ask her. Even guys would write in, asking her for advice about their girlfriends or about a complication at work. Alice's real dream was to open up her own clothing boutique. Like me, she needed a side job until her business was up and running.

Rose, on the other hand, had a much less glamorous job. She was hired to summarize, and then exaggerate, the gossip that paparazzi scooped up. She didn't like to make the celebrities look like goons, but she had to have some kind of job, right? She was still in college, working on her degree to become a full-time mechanic. Lord knows she already knows more about cares than Jasper, Emmett, Alice and me all combined, but she felt the need to learn more modern ways to fix cars.

Rose and Alice were still with Jasper and Emmett. Alice and Jasper were happily engaged, and schedule to wed in France in about a month, and Rose and Emmett were just…well… together. They weren't engaged, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were soon.

As for Alice's plans for me and Edward…They haven't exactly gone the way Alice had planned all those years ago, I was pleased to say. Yesterday's shopping trip was horrible, and I was glad that I didn't have to see that wretched piece of crap until Alice's wedding. Of course, the evil pixie had paired me and Edward up at maid of honor and best man, meaning we had to spend the entire night together.

I was happy that Alice was getting married, and the dresses she was having me wear was gorgeous, but I couldn't help but feel like I wouldn't have a very good time if I was being pestered my good ol' Edward the whole night. Maybe he would decide to stay in France, I thought with a jolt of happiness. That would make me extremely happy. It would mean that we would be half way across the world from each other, with a 6 hour time difference and an $800 ticket between us.

Of course, money was never an issue for the Cullens. Dr. Cullen had an amazingly high income, somehow knew exactly which companies to put stock in, and an inheritance for each of his children. They were very generous with their money, and I would forever be grateful for all the amounts of money they've needlessly spent on me. Alice, Esme, and Carlisle all insisted it was no big deal, that I was part of the family, and they'd happily have spent more if I'd let them, but, frankly, it made me uncomfortable to take money from them. They were all so nice to me, all the time. Except for Edward, that is.

I got up, and went down to the shop. Dylan was working today, a prodigious, intelligent young man who had a heck of a future in front if him. Why he spent all his extra time at my book shop, I'll never know.

I greeted him, asked him how business was doing, and offered him a coffee. He accepted as though there was nothing in the world he wanted more, and informed me that I had a few messages to attend to. I went to small coffee shop around the corner and let them know my order.

As I waited, I looked through the multiple post-it notes that Dylan had handed me. They all said about the same thing; some customer wanted a certain book, there were bills I had to pay, and one from Alice that asked if I wanted to come over on Thursday. As I read the last one, I stopped short. It couldn't be? Why would he leave me a message? But there it was, in blue ink written on a green post-it note.

"Edward Cullen: 'Call me, Swan. We need to talk.'"

**I guess all I needed to update was a little emotional and motivational review from TueyTwoShoes and some caffeine. Thanks, girl. I owe you.  
**


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